


A Big Ol' Week O' Souyo 2019

by UpDownLeftGone



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M, Souyo Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-03-19 20:43:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18977998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpDownLeftGone/pseuds/UpDownLeftGone
Summary: This is gonna be where I post my stuff for Souyo Week 2019! Happy to finally be able to do one of these :)Day 1: Soulmates | The Blue RoseDay 2: Confessions | Going CrazyDay 3: Injury + Holding Hands | Time Will HealDay 4: Hanging Out with Nanako | The Little Sister Set-UpDay 5: Shadows | Going AloneDay 6: Growing Old Together | Coming HomeDay 7: Meeting In-Laws | Awkward Encounter





	1. The Blue Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1 : Soulmates

A large blue rose caught Souji’s eye as he turned to leave the velvet room. It was right next to where he had previously been sitting and looked as if it was nearly glowing. The plant was obviously so out of place in the mysterious limo, it’s cold interior leading Souji to believe no plant could ever survive in such a place.

But there it was, a blue rose, peeking out from between the cushions. 

Curiously, he reached out to it, plucking it from the seat, inspecting it as he turned it in his hands. 

The two residents seemed to have noticed his curiosity. “Ah, what an interesting plant. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one quite like it,” Igor spoke as Margaret gave a knowing smile. 

The woman in blue's smile softened. “A blue rose… you should take it. You will know what to do with it when the time comes.”

Souji looked down at the abnormally vibrant rose in his hand, pushing open the door to the velvet room and stepping back out to the shopping district. 

 

~~~

 

Souji was laying on the grass of the Samegawa Floodplain, twiddling a rose of an unnatural color, seemingly lost in thought when Yosuke spotted him. 

Immediately, he dropped his bike and ran over with an enthusiastic “Hey Partner!” 

Souji stopped playing with the rose and looked up, Yosuke was looking straight down at him, arms folded with a curious grin on his face. “Sup’?”

Souji shrugged, patting the spot of grass next to him. Yosuke sat down.  The other boy gave Souji a curious look, glancing at the flower in his hand. “Cool flower.” 

“Thanks.”

“Where’d you get it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blue rose before.” 

“I… saw it on the way home, decided to pick it up.”

Yosuke laughed. “So you just stole it from someone’s garden or something? Why?”

Souji just shrugged again.

Yosuke punched him on the shoulder. “You’re so weird sometimes, Partner.” 

Souji looked back down at the rose. “Yeah.” 

 

They sat for awhile, watching the sun lower into the horizon, yellows and pinks and purples bursting from the skyline, painting a picture of a classic Inaba sunset, beautiful as always. Yosuke eventually laid down next to Souji, babbling about this and that and game strategies and music and other things before he noticed that his Partner wasn’t really paying attention.

He stopped talking, biting the inside of his cheek, worried about his friend. “You ok?”

Souji didn’t even acknowledge his concern as he toyed with the rose. “Hey, Yosuke?” 

“Yeah?”

Yosuke watched Souji intensely as he picked at a loose petal on the vibrant blue rose. “Do you believe in soulmates?” 

Yosuke sat up, attempting to laugh off the question. “Jeez, partner, where did that come from?” 

Souji stopped messing with the rose again, looking towards Yosuke, waiting for an answer. 

Yosuke looked back towards the horizon, scratching the back of his neck, panicking for an answer. “N-no, I- I don’t.” 

Now Souji sat up, a sad smile crossing his face. He glanced down at the rose once more. “Well, I do.” 

He pushed the blue rose towards a flustered Yosuke. “I- uhh-”

“Here, take it.” Souji smiled softly as Yosuke took the rose. An odd fluttering sensation seemed to take him over as he clasped the stem between his thumb and pointer finger.

He twirled it in his hand a few times, looking down at it. “Um, thanks.” 

Souji stood up, offering his hand and helping Yosuke to his feet. 

Now it was Yosuke’s turn to be quiet, fiddling with the abnormally vibrant blue rose on the walk home. 

 

Eventually they passed the split in the road where Souji broke off, Yosuke didn’t even notice until he looked up and he was alone.  He looked down at the rose again, picking at a loose petal. 

He never really thought about the whole soulmate thing, truth be told. He had always been a go-with-the-flow type of person, but if there was one thing he learned about himself that year, it was that he didn’t want to live that type of life. 

Soulmates... people who were meant to be together for life. One person immediately came to his mind, a weird feeling in his chest sparked a light inside of him as he thought about it.

The odd thing was, the rose started glowing, nearly mirroring his own feelings. Yosuke jumped a little bit, picking too hard at the loose petal. It came off, leaving a soft blue glow in his wake.

… maybe there was something to this whole soulmate thing.

 

Later that night, Yosuke decided to look up the meaning of a blue rose. He then wished hard for the next day to go as well as he hoped it would, clasping the still ever-vibrant blue rose to his chest.

 

~~~

 

The next day, Souji was stopped halfway to school by a running Yosuke, who ended up doubled over next to him, silently cursing himself for waking up so late. 

“P-Partner! Hey!” Yosuke’s normal smiled seemed forced, Souji gave him a questioning look. 

Yosuke glanced away and bit his lip. “So, uh, anyways, I was thinking… about what you asked me yesterday, you know? And, uh, I think I lied. I do believe in soulmates.” 

With a blush that took over his entire face, Yosuke clumsily reached into his bag and produced a classic red rose, holding it out with a shaking hand and an awkward smile, not quiet able to meet Souji’s eyes.

In his head, Yosuke had a million good one liners to use here. He had practiced this moment in the mirror no less than a hundred times the night before. Too bad all that came out was an “uhhhh-” before Souji took the rose and wrapped his arms around him. 

“Aheh, g-guess I can start calling you Soulmate instead of Partner now, huh?” 

“Mmm, I like Partner, but Soulmate has a nice ring to it too.”

“You’re so weird sometimes.” 

Souji pulled back, hands still on Yosuke’s shoulders, only to close the distance again, this time with a soft kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Due to the absence in nature of blue roses, they have come to symbolise mystery and longing to attain the impossible, with some cultures going so far as to say that the holder of a blue rose will have his/her wishes granted.” (Wikipedia)


	2. Going Crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Confessions

Simply put: Yosuke was probably going insane. 

Absolutely batshit crazy. 

Nutso. 

Mad. 

Or maybe he was just dreaming. Or nightmaring. 

 

There was no way in hell he had just told Souji he loved him. 

It was so random too! What the heck was he thinking? They weren’t even in the same room, Souji was all the way in Tokyo and Yosuke was just so enamored with hearing him speak and he just… kind of… said it. 

 

“... Yosuke?” The voice through the phone crackled.

Instead of responding however, Yosuke looked deadpan ahead, jaw dropped down to the floor, and pressed the ‘end call’ button without even thinking. 

 

What the actual hell did he just admit to?? 

 

Ok, ok, he needed to calm down. It was just… heat of the moment? No, no, he could do better than that… misunderstanding? No, go a layer deeper, it was a misunderstanding because Souji totally misheard him through the phone static. Yeah, yeah. That… that was believable.

 

> **8:32pm Yosuke:**
> 
> lol so idk wht u thot u herd but lik i ws totlly jst saying…

 

Wait, wait. What sounded like…?

 

> tht i lov youthfulness lololol lov being young 
> 
>  
> 
> **8:32pm Souji:**
> 
> ???
> 
>  
> 
> Yosuke, are you ok? 
> 
>  
> 
> **8:33pm Yosuke:**
> 
> haha ofc im ok ptnr! Call jst cut out cuz phone srvce in inaba is bad lol u no
> 
>  
> 
> **8:33pm Souji:**
> 
> Yeah, I know. 

 

Yosuke sighed, thankful to have dodged a bullet there. Now, all he had to do was dodge the gunfire for the rest of his life. 

 

He let out a relieved sigh, resting his head on the back of the couch, only to subsequently nearly have a heart attack as his phone blared out a familiar ringtone. 

He sat up forcefully, accidentally sending his phone into the air, fumbling around for a second before he caught it, and checking the caller ID.

 

Of course it was Souji, because who else would it be?

 

He debated for a second, if he didn’t answer then Souji would know something was up. If he did answer, however, then Souji would know something was up. Panic set in. He pressed the answer button. 

 

“H-hey Partner…” 

“Are you sure you’re ok, Yosuke?” There was an air of concern in his voice, even through the phone. 

“Y-yeah, o-of course I’m ok!” Yosuke gave a nervous laugh.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“You know, Yosuke, if something’s up you can tell me. Don’t be afraid to tell me anything.” There was definitely concern in his voice, but there was another undertone that Yosuke couldn’t quite pick up on. Hope?

Yosuke gulped, his face flushing a deep red. “I- uh.” 

More silence, then a soft laugh.

“You know, speaking of, you uh- you kind of got my hopes up there.”

“Huh?” Yosuke had never heard his friend so unsure of himself as he spoke. Normally  _ he _ was the one tripping over words or saying stupid stuff.

“Actually never mind, it’s not that big of a deal.” 

“No, if you want to say something then say something.” Yosuke’s heart was pounding, he only had half a mind to realize why. 

“I don’t think you want to know.”

“I do!”

“Sure?”

“Yes, Partner.” 

He could hear Souji shift, then sigh. “It’s just, I actually do like you. Really... like you.”

“I- um. Huh.” Yosuke’s heart was in his throat, he didn’t know how to respond. 

“Yeah, ok, I knew you wouldn’t want to hear it we can talk later letmejust-” 

Before Yosuke could say anything the phone call had ended, leaving him dazed for the second time in about five minutes.

 

He starred at their texting history, wanting to respond, but really not knowing how to. 

Souji liked him back? Ok, no. Now he had to be dreaming, there was just no way this was real. With that conclusion, he pinched himself, but he definitely felt it. He then slapped himself gently on the face, repeating “wake up, wake up, wake up!” but nothing changed. 

This was real. The whole thing was real and he didn’t know if the feeling in his stomach was excitement or complete dread. 

So, swallowing his pride, he opened a notes app and started drafting something worth sending. 

 

Two hours. That’s how long it took him to draft out a written response to whatever the hell just happened. He was pretty sure he’d never even spent that much time on a school essay. 

Multiple drafts of deep, dark thoughts, a vomit-spray of feel-y words all regurgitated onto his phone screen.

It was almost a shame when he deleted it all, replacing it with a much simpler message. 

 

> **10:41pm Yosuke:**
> 
> i think i rlly like u 2
> 
>  
> 
> like rlly like u

 

This time he did actually drop his phone when it started ringing. 

 

“... hello?” Souji’s voice seemed small on the other end of the line. 

“Hey. I- I mean what I said, you know? You’re- I just- I do like you…”

There was shuffling on the other end, but still no response. 

“And ok yeah I was being really dumb earlier. I guess I did actually say that I…” Yosuke cleared his throat “I lo-” He shuffled a bit before giving out an annoyed sigh. “I love you! Ok?” 

Laughter finally came through the other end, making Yosuke blush ever harder than he already was. 

“W-what!? Don’t laugh, I’m being serious!”

“No, no. I’m sorry, it’s just… I really never thought I would hear you say that so openly.” Did Yosuke hear a sniffle? Was Souji crying? “I love you too, Yosuke.” 

“H-hey, no need to cry.”

“It’s a happy cry. You just have no clue how long I’ve been waiting for that.”

“Wow Partner, for once you sound like more of a mess than I am.”

More laughter, then more silence. 

They stayed like that, silence on the line for a few minutes. 

Yosuke thought about the whole situation. When had he even realized he was in love with his best friend? Well, frankly, he hadn’t realized it until he said it. How long it had been before he realized it was a whole different topic, however. 

The excited feeling he got whenever Souji texted him or called him, the need to be around him every second he could while he was still in Inaba, all wrapped up with the lingering depression he had for at least a good two weeks after Souji left. 

Yeah, so maybe he had it bad for awhile. 

“So, now what?” 

Yosuke almost forgot he was on the phone, the sudden sound of his Partner’s voice bringing him back to alertness. “Well… would you like to go out with me?” 

Yosuke could practically hear Souji’s smile through the phone. “Yes, Yosuke. I would like to go out with you.” 

“Good, then you better clear your schedule for the entirety of Golden Week.” 

“Consider it done.”

For the rest of the night, the boys discussed what they would do during Golden Week. Yosuke hung up the call not being able to wait for the next time he would see his Partner, a small smile painted on his face for the whole day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one definitely isn't as serious as yesterdays, but i still had a lot of fun writing it heh.
> 
> also hhhh like triple kudos to everyone else doing souyo week everything ive read and saw so far is so good??? everyones so talented??? im drowning in souyo and appreciating every second of it.


	3. Time Will Heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Injury + Holding Hands
> 
> Warning: There are some graphic depictions in this one. It gets sad and it ain't pretty.

“NO!” Souji could barely feel the wetness dripping down his face, sounds behind him muffled by his own pounding heart, eyes locked on the pool of red mere feet away from him on the sidewalk. 

The pain in his ankle didn’t register as he ran over to his friend with light brown hair, currently being re-dyed red with blood. 

It didn’t take long for his ankle to give out. He collapsed right next to Yosuke, grabbing at anything he could to stop the bleeding, shrugging off his tattered jacket, desperately attempting to find a way to wrap it around the giant gash in the back of Yosuke’s head, his vision blurry with tears. 

“Please, please, please no. No!” He gave up with the jacket, looking helplessly at the bloodied Yosuke, continuing to notice scratches and dark spots and - his leg. If the gash in the back of his head wasn’t bad enough, his right leg was twisted in a way it should never be. No, no, he had to do something - there had to be something around here - he could fix this! 

Anything, absolutely anything, any last ditch effort.

“Persona!” He cried out into the sky. “Samarecarm! Diarama!” Nothing happened. “Please, please.”

This wasn’t the TV World, there were no Personas, no healing charms, no spells that would magically bring someone back from the dead. 

This wasn’t a damn game. This was real. And Souji could do nothing.

 

Sudden realization hitting him, he doubled over, screaming, latching onto Yosuke’s blood stained T-shirt hard enough to make his knuckles turn white. 

Tears fell freely, the violent shaking and hiccuping rendering him useless as he broke down over the body of his best friend. Of his Partner. 

Who was he kidding? The only person he felt he could ever love was currently passed out, barely breathing, bleeding out on the sidewalk right in front of him. And he couldn’t do anything.

It was always ok whenever someone passed out in the TV, he was always prepared with something to bring them back. He had gotten over the panic in there because he knew it would be ok, but here… what was happening seemed more fake than any fast-healing magic. No, Yosuke couldn’t die, none of the IT could die. But at the same time there he was… just...

Souji shut his eyes tight, trying to get some sense back. This wasn’t possible, no, he couldn’t give up, he had to do something, anything-

 

His eyes flew open as something lightly brushed his face.

He looked down at a fairly pale Yosuke, who was giving a concerned smile towards his friend, lowering his outstretched arm to show the bit of blood smeared on his thumb. 

“You- you h-had a little something on your c-cheek…”

Souji could only stare wide-eyed for a second before his mind snapped back into protection mode.

He gulped back his tears as he quickly looked around for the uniform jacket he had thrown out of frustration, finding it tossed onto a patch of grass next to them. 

He grabbed it and dusted it off, the second surge of adrenaline pushing him onward. 

“Yosuke, can you sit up?” 

Yosuke grunted, lifting his head a little bit as Souji slid the black jacket under him, covering the cut and helping him sit up with a grunt from both of them. 

Yosuke moaned, resting his head in his palms. “W-what happened?” 

Souji held the jacket to the back of Yosuke’s head with one hand and rubbed his back with another. “Just rest for now… please.” 

“I- ngh - I’m dizzy.” One of Yosuke’s hands fell to his side. 

Souji choked back his panic, moving closer and allowing Yosuke to rest his head on his shoulder. Souji buried himself in his friend’s hair, focusing on his breathing as tears washed away fresh blood.

 

It didn’t take long after that for an ambulance to arrive, hauling Yosuke away on a stretcher as Souji took a seat on the bench. 

The paramedics rushed around him, getting his friend hooked up to all types of machines, yelling about different medications and directions. 

Neither of the boys paid them any mind, the chaos around them mere background noise. Yosuke’s eyes were drifting closed again as Souji looked at him.

“We’re losing him! I need more…” 

Souji couldn’t hold back the guttural sobbing anymore, reaching out to Yosuke’s hand out of instinct. “Please…” Yosuke’s eyes fluttered back open at the touch, but they stayed looking up, focusing on nothing in particular. Souji ran his thumb over Yosuke’s knuckles. “It’ll be ok,” he nearly whispered, voice cracking as tears fell down his face. 

 

At the hospital, Souji learned he only fractured his ankle and gained a scratch on his head. The doctor simply slapped a bandaid on his forehead, wrapped his leg, gave him some crutches, and told him to get some rest and come back in a week or two for a quick checkup. He didn’t even need stitches. Dojima offered to drive him home, but Souji declined, wanting to check in with Yosuke first. His uncle told him to text him once he was done. 

 

The whole situation made him feel guilty, especially when he entered Yosuke’s room to see him hooked up to a bunch of monitors and IVs, pale face peaceful as he slept. 

Souji sat down, positioning himself in a weird way so he could elevate his leg on a different chair. He started out by the door, but after a few minutes, dragged his odd set-up so he was sitting directly next to Yosuke, once again holding his hand as the heart monitor beeped behind him. 

 

He didn’t exactly remember falling asleep, but at some point he was woken up by a nurse with Yosuke’s anxious looking parents in tow. 

Mr and Mrs Hanamura surrounded the bed, Souji let go of Yosuke’s hand so his dad could hold it instead. 

“And how’re you doing, Souji?” Yosuke’s dad asked, but his heart wasn’t really in it. 

“I’m… I’m ok.” 

Mr Hanamura nodded. “I’m positive Yosuke will be so glad to hear that.”

He was sure it wasn’t meant in any bad way, but hearing those words made a bolt of guilt flash through Souji, and he sunk back in his seat.

The nurse was adjusting IVs and double checking monitors, gracefully walking around the room, talking while she worked. “So I’ll be Hanamura-san’s nurse for this evening. If you guys have any questions please feel free to let me know.”

“How is he holding up?” Mrs Hanamura asked. Her stern voice counter-acted her small and currently withdrawn appearance. 

“For what happened, he’s doing great. I’m not sure if the doctor has been in to talk to you guys yet... “ there was a trio of shaking heads. “Ok, so just the rundown, he does have a grade 3 concussion, as well as a broken femur, a bruised spinal cord, and anemia from blood loss due to that cut in the back of his head.”

She looked straight at Souji. “As far as I know, if someone else wasn’t with him, he likely would be in much worse of a state. Right now, however, we’re going to keep an eye on him for about a week or so and we’re hoping to release him soon. He'll need surgery tomorrow for his leg and there may be some slight memory loss and possibly some slurred speech for a day or two, but he is expected to make a full recovery.” 

Both of Yosuke’s parents relaxed at that news.

“Thank you.” Yosuke’s mom smiled at the nurse. 

“Just let me know if you need anything else! I'm sure the doctor will be in soon to explain the specifics.” 

The nurse left the room, leaving Souji with Yosuke and his parents. 

“So… what happened?” Mr Hanamura carefully looked over at Souji.

“I… there... -”

“Ken, he doesn’t need to talk about it if he doesn’t want to.” Mrs. Hanamura was looking daggers into the other Hanamura.

“N-no, it’s ok.” Both parents looked towards him. “There was a car, I guess we didn’t see it. It was a hit and run.”

Both parents nodded. That was all they needed to know. They didn’t need to know that Yosuke jumped out in front of Souji, taking the brunt of the hit. They didn’t need to know just how close he had seemed to dying, or the pool of blood, or of Souji holding him and crying on the side of the road. They didn’t need to know that. 

Eventually, the doctor came in to explain the surgery and what his parents should expect. Souji didn't listen too closely, he couldn't.

Both of Yosuke’s parents left after that, thanking Souji and inviting him over for dinner sometime once everything was sorted. He nodded, resuming his position next to Yosuke. 

 

If visiting time ended, apparently none of the nurses or doctors cared since Souji woke up next to Yosuke again. This time however, he wasn’t woken up by someone entering the room, rather he was woken up by someone playing with his hair. 

Groggily, he sat up, lifting his head to find tired brown eyes looking down at him.

“You l-look like sh-shit.” 

Souji slumped his shoulders and smiled. “Look whos talking.” 

 

Yosuke was released later in the week. Souji insisted on watching after him while both of his parents were at work, despite his own broken ankle. It was a struggle, but he was determined to make it work as he hobbled around the kitchen on one leg, pouring a simple chicken noodle soup into two separate bowls

 

“Yosuke could you come get your soup?!” 

“Dude, aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be taking care of me?” 

“Yeah, well you have both of your hands.”

“At least you’re not wheelchair bound!”

Souji tried not to laugh as he watched Yosuke attempt to maneuver the clunky wheelchair into his kitchen. “Maybe I should’ve just brought out the soup one at a time.” 

“No, no. I’m this far in. Can’t back out now!” 

Eventually, with much difficulty, Yosuke was able to get the wheelchair through the kitchen entrance, grabbing both of the bowls of soup as Souji somehow expertly wheeled Yosuke back to the living room with one hand. 

Souji helped his friend onto the couch, then tossed his crutch off to the side, flopping down onto the couch as well. Both boys put their legs up on the coffee table as they ate. 

Yosuke took one sip of the soup. “Darn, it’s cold now.” 

“Sorry sir, can I offer you a free breadstick?” Souji replied, dryly. 

Yosuke playfully punched Souji, leaving both of them smiling as they watched TV and finished their soup in silence. 

 

It only took about 10 minutes for Souji to stop paying attention to the TV, shuffling around awkwardly as his mind worked against him.

Ever since the accident, he had been plagued with thoughts - What if neither of them had seen the car? What if Souji wasn’t there? What if Yosuke wasn’t ok? 

He could imagine those what if scenarios, he didn’t want to, but he could. It was the one that he couldn’t imagine that kept him up at night, that had him withdrawing into himself whenever he thought about it - why? Why had Yosuke risked his life? 

Yosuke gave him a concerned look. “You ok?” 

Souji merely looked down, a few tears fell from his eyes as he crossed his arms, hiding his face with his hand. 

“Whoa partner, what’s up?” Yosuke shifted so he was looking directly at Souji, concern now all over his face. 

“I-it’s nothing.”

“No man, it’s obviously not nothing.” Yosuke reached up, removing Souji’s hand from his face and shuffling closer. 

Souji sniffled, eyes still locked on the floor. “Why did you do it?” 

“H-huh?” 

“Why did you jump out in front of that car? You wouldn’t have been hit as bad if you just stayed where you were. I- I-.” 

“Souji, look at me.” Souji obliged as Yosuke lifted Souji’s hand to meet his chest. “I’m still here, see? And I’m ok, see? I honestly can’t tell you what was going through my mind, I don’t remember much of the accident before waking up in the hospital. Truth is, I consider myself lucky for that. I’d assume I wanted to protect you, though. The witnesses said it- it could have been way worse. Souji, i-if that car hit you straight on... “ Yosuke took a shaky breath. “I don’t even want to think about it.” 

“You just - you were - I - I thought you died. You were all crumpled up and you weren’t responding and I - I - I - didn’t know what to do, Yosuke. I thought you were gone and I-” Souji was shaking now, Yosuke reached out and hugged him as he sobbed into his best friend’s shoulder. 

“It’ll be ok.”

Souji only bawled harder at the words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew this one was heavy. gotta say, wasn’t exactly expecting to write a mcdepresso fic this week but here we be, and for writing it in a day i honestly… kinda... really like how it turned out. i know this concept has been done like a bajillion times between these two, but man, im kinda a sad suker for it.


	4. The Little Sister Set-Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Hanging out with Nanako

“Yo! Big Bro!” Nanako was waiting at the train station as Souji stepped off the train, looking exhausted. 

His new job was giving him a bit of trouble, seeing as he was up all night the night before working on some freelance work. Still, being able to work on his own schedule, at home, in his pajamas beat an office job any day, even if it meant his law degree wasn’t getting much use. 

“Jeez old man, you look exhausted.” Nanako looked around for a second, confused. “Where’s Yosuke-nii…?”

“Huh?”

“You know, Yosuke-nii? I thought you guys would show up together.”

“Why?”

Nanako just looked at him, the teenager’s mouth slightly agape. “What? Did you guys break up or something?” 

“Break- Nanako, what are you talking about?” 

She crossed her arms, squinting her eyes. “Was I just transported to another dimension or something? I swear you guys have been all over each other since you first stayed here!”

Souji huffed, honestly just wanting to get to his uncle’s house so he could take a nap. “Nanako, I seriously have no clue what you’re talking about.” 

“You were ‘roommates’ ever since the end of high school! You’d give each other oogley-eyes every other second! I literally caught you two cuddling on the couch last Golden Week, and you’re trying to tell me you guys never dated!?” 

The now somehow even more exhausted pseudo-big brother shook his head. “No, we never dated. And Yosuke moved out like a year ago.” 

And it was the truth too. Sure, maybe Souji did like Yosuke in  _ that way _ since high school, and sure maybe they’ve been friends for over ten years now, and yeah maybe they cuddled here and there, but they were never  _ together.  _ Yosuke would flip out if it ever came to that, and Souji was used to the feeling by now.

“I - you - he -  _ what?! _ Even seven year old me picked up on something! If a seven year old thinks two people like each other, then two people like each other! I mean, you like him, right?” Nanako scoffed in disbelief. 

Souji stayed quiet. 

“I knew it. Did you two even date anyone else in college?”

“Well, Yosuke had this short thing with this one girl, but it kind of ended badly... “

“And you?”

Souji bit the inside of his cheek. “Er, no.” 

Nanako narrowed her eyes again. “And I don’t even need to guess why. You know when he’s showing up?”

“He just texted me, one second.” Souji fumbled his phone out of his back pocket, still hanging on to the small backpack containing his laptop and other work materials. “Looks like his train doesn’t leave until tomorrow.” 

“Perrrfect.” A devious smile creeped across Nanako’s face. 

“Nanako… what are you thinking?” 

“Don’t worry about it, just follow me.” 

Souji was very much worrying about it. Still, he followed Nanako.  

 

About four hours later, Souji found himself three mocha cappuccinos deep in trying on new clothes that he would never, under any circumstance, ever pick out for himself. Nanako had him running around in some new fancy department store in Okina City, grabbing seemingly random garments and screaming about how “totally date material” they were. Seemed like she was hanging out with Teddie too much. 

Souji exited the dressing room, ready to throw in the towel and drag Nanako back home if he needed to. If he had to try on one more outfit then so help Izanagi- 

“Oh my god! Big Bro! It’s perfect!” She squealed, a giant smile crossing her face. 

He sighed loudly, head drooping and shoulders slumping, glad to be done with the hellish outing. “Does that mean we’re done?” 

Nanako simply laughed as Souji retreated back into the dressing room before she could suggest anything more. 

For the first time in probably two hours, he looked in the dressing room mirror. 

Looking back at him was an admittedly stylish man in his late-twenties. 

Nanako had grabbed a grey leather jacket with an asymmetric zipper, running from his right hip to mid-chest. The end of the zipper left just enough room for a white T-shirt to poke out, the top resting directly under his collarbone. His old blue jeans were held up by a new black leather belt, standing out among the more muted shade-pallet, it accented his hips in a good way. The belt matched the black combat boots that Nanako had grabbed on her way to the dressing rooms. 

He felt like high school Kanji, just way better looking. 

The only issue was that it was Golden Week, and he would probably die in that jacket. But damn, he looked good. 

Nanako had set aside his inner turmoil of melting in the spring heat by not letting him give any input as she marched up to the register and bought the whole outfit herself. He later tried to pay her back, but she waved it off, saying something about how her plan getting set into motion was more than enough payback. This only made him more nervous. 

Once home, Souji retreated to his old room - which was still set up practically the way he left it at the end of his second year - pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed, mentally preparing himself for whatever Nanako had in store for tomorrow. 

 

Tomorrow was here, and that was pretty evident by Nanako standing outside of his room yelling at him to get up, switching the one ceiling light on and off as if it would help her cause. 

Souji lifted his head and checked his phone. 8 in the morning. 

“Big Bro, wake up! We still got a lot of work to do here!” 

Souji simply groaned, laying his face back down in the pillow.

“Oh NO you don’t!” Safe to say, Nanako wouldn’t let him get away with that. 

She stopped flicking the light and stomped towards the futon, grabbing a hold of Souji’s leg with an iron grip, and pulling. Hard. 

It took surprisingly little effort for her to heave Souji from his futon, continuously dragging him and his blankets out to the hall while he tried and failed to slow her efforts, grabbing onto the door frame like a cat being tossed out of a room. 

Eventually, Souji gave up, allowing Nanako to drag him to the door of the upstairs bathroom. 

“You gonna stand or do you want me to drag you onto the bathroom floor?”

“I’m up, I’m up. Jeez, when did you get so strong?” Souji was finding his way out of the mess of blankets, attempting to stand up. 

“Chie’s been allowing me to tag along in her training. It pays off.”

“It sure does,” Souji muttered, finally finding his footing. “So what are we doing?” 

“I went over and talked to Ted, he says Yosuke’s train is coming in around 10am. We gotta get you spiffed up.” 

“Spiffed up?”

“Yes, spiffed up. Now go shower.” She pointed into the bathroom. 

Souji sighed and entered the bathroom, not wanting to cross Nanako again after seeing her true strength. 

 

Around 9:45 Souji found himself released from Nanako’s self-proclaimed “spiffying session”. He was wearing the same outfit they got at the store the other day, his hair styled in less of the bowl cut style he hadn’t changed since high school and more with shorter bangs, swooped to one side. Still a bowl cut, but not as bad as it once was. Nanako even dipped into her own makeup, playing with eyeliner that he begged her not to put on him.

Of course she did. And of course it actually looked pretty good. 

Nanako stepped back, framing Souji’s face with her fingers, biting her tongue, and closing one eye like an artist admiring their own masterpiece. 

The same devious smile from the other day creeped across her face. “Perfect.” 

Souji stood up and walked away from Nanako’s vanity, stepping towards her full-body mirror, checking out what the heck Nanako did to him. 

She snuck up behind him, reaching up to lay both of her hands on his shoulder, then standing on her tippy toes to rest her chin on her left hand, the same smile still plastered on her face. “If he somehow hasn’t fallen for ya yet, then he’s about to.”

 

They made to the train station by 9:55. 

“Alright, alright. When he gets here, be sure to exit out of the far right of the station. You’ll see me.” 

“And what if I decide not to?” 

Nanako stopped dead in her tracks, turning around to face Souji. He eyebrows were pressed together, bottom lip jutting out, eyes big and tearful. “B-Big Bro, pwease?” 

Souji sighed for probably the millionth time in the past 24 hours. “Fine.”

Nanako pumped her fist. “Yes! Ok, ok, I’ll be waiting for you guys out there.” 

She ran to the other side of the station, looking back a few times to make sure Souji was still where she left him, then exited through the arch.

Souji took a deep breath, sitting himself down on one of the old benches. 

He wasn’t sure just how sound Nanako’s whole plan was, or just how sure she was that Yosuke did actually like him, but there was absolutely a small part of him that hoped for this to work, even though it was pretty unlikely. 

Still, if setting her little plan into motion made her happy, then the least he could do was play along. 

 

Yosuke’s train showed up not long after he sat down. The train doors opened and few people got off. Souji anxiously waited for Yosuke to show up. 

Sure enough, a mess of brown hair poked it’s way out of the train car, sporting an orange T-shirt and brown jeans, as well as a practically empty orange and grey backpack and a guitar case, presumably holding a guitar. It was pretty much the same Yosuke from high school, just with slightly shorter and darker hair. 

He scanned the station, almost jumping when he saw Souji, his shock quickly morphing into a big smile. 

“Hey, partner! New getup?” Yosuke was bounding towards him, taking large steps past the other people in the station. 

“Er, yeah. Nanako decided I needed a new look.” Souji stood up, scratching the back of his neck in an effort to hide his flushed face.

“Wow, Nanako sure knows her fashion. You, uh, you look good.” Yosuke was still smiling, but Souji didn’t miss the slight red on his cheeks. 

Yosuke looked around again, a confused look on his face. “Where’s the rest of the IT?”

Oh no. Ohhh no. Apparently neither Nanako nor Souji thought about it being weird that Souji would be the only one at the train station when Yosuke showed up. “Well, Nanako’s outside waiting. She had to uh -” she had to what? Think! “- go… go get food.” 

Somehow, it was enough to convince Yosuke. “Hum, alright then.”  
Souji waved Yosuke along, walking towards the other end of the station and the arch Nanako had disappeared out of a few minutes ago. 

“Man, this place never changes. Can you believe just how long it’s been? I swear I still remember that crack in the cement! I bet Yasogami’s still the same too, they never update those classrooms.”

Yosuke went on and on, Souji listening and nodding intently to everything he said, a smile plastered on his face.

“And don’t even get me started on… whoa, what-?” Yosuke stopped dead in his tracks once they exited the station. Souji took his eyes away from Yosuke’s shocked face to asses the scene in front of them. 

Nanako was standing there with a giant bouquet of red roses, a picnic basket, and a Teddie, who was currently bouncing up and down with what could only be described as pure, unfiltered joy. 

“Yosuke-senpai!” Teddie started sprinting towards Yosuke, luckily Nanako reached out just in time, snagging his wrist and pulling him back.

She whispered something to him and he stopped bouncing before turning towards the two men. “Hey, Yosuke-nii! Teddie here’s gonna take your bags back to your parent’s house.” 

Yosuke gave a puzzled look towards Nanako, but went along with it anyways. “Uh, alright? Here Ted, careful with the guitar.” He passed his backpack and guitar to the smiling boy, who gladly took it.

“Ok now follow me.” Nanako looked giddy, trying and failing to hide it, biting her lips together in an effort to contain her grin. Souji looked over at Yosuke, who still looked extremely confused. 

Souji was definitely sweating. 

“Ta da!” 

The group rounded the corner and both Souji and Yosuke’s jaws dropped to the floor. 

Nanako was smiling out of control as she presented them with a horse-drawn carriage, two white horses pulling a black cart, complete with a coachman in a tux, and lined with purple flowers. 

Yosuke continued to stare in a total state of shock while Souji pulled Nanako off to the side. 

“Nanako, what the hell!? How much did this cost?” he whisper-shouted at her.

“Pfft, don’t worry about it, Yosuke-nii’s dad pays me pretty well,” she handed him the roses and the picnic basket. “I’ll meet you guys up there, ok?” 

“Wait - up where? Nanako? Nanako!?” She was waving and backing away towards Teddie, who was back to bouncing with pure happiness, this time holding Yosuke’s backpack and guitar. 

“Act suave!” she whisper-shouted back before turning around and dragging Teddie back around the building. 

Souji stood there, mouth still slightly ajar, eye twitching. 

He let out an angry sigh, cursing Nanako and swearing for revenge, before fixing his hair and clearing his throat, turning back around to a still-in-shock Yosuke and walking over to the cart.

“After you,” he opened the door to the carriage as Yosuke shook his head and blinked a few times, coming back to reality. 

“Uh, y-yeah. Sure.” 

They both piled into the cart. As soon as Souji shut the door, the horses started clacking back towards town. 

“Dude… what the heck? This… this is awesome! Nanako-chan set this up?” Yosuke’s shock dissolved into excitement as the cart got closer to town. “This is so cool!” 

“Uhm, yeah. Pretty cool.” Souji still held the giant bouquet of flowers and the picnic basket, knowledge of Nanako’s true intentions weighing on his mind. 

 

Yosuke was raving about the ride all the way up, Souji was too nervous to enjoy it, his white T-shirt under the grey jacket soaked with sweat. Still, he held his bearings. Yosuke’s smile could take away any anxiety instantly, anyways. 

Eventually, the horses stopped and Souji opened the door, holding it for Yosuke. Though, he faltered for a second upon realizing where they were at. The overlook. 

Sure enough, Nanako stood over a classic red-and-white checkerboard blanket under a tree nearby, smiling.

Yosuke stayed behind, the coachman letting him pet one of the horses while Souji stomped over the Nanako, eye’s wide. 

“Give him the friggin flowers you dope! Also, get over there and pet the horses with him!”

She kicked his shin before he could respond. “Ow!” He hopped on one foot, holding his ankle in the other as Nanako gave a look. “What was that for!?” She simply glared at him. “Ok, ok I’m going.” 

He did his best to hide his limp as he made his way back to the horses. 

“... yes, she is seven years old.” The coachman was talking to Yosuke, telling him about the horse who was snooting at him. 

“Who’s a good girl? You are!” Yosuke scratched the horse behind the maine as Souji walked up on them, giving the girl a pat with his free hand. “Oh, there you are, partner!” 

Yosuke waved to the coachman as he tipped his hat and turned off. 

“Man, those horses are awesome.” Yosuke was still beaming.

Souji, for once, was at a loss for words as he saw Yosuke smiling more than possibly ever. 

“Where’s Nanako-chan? Oh!” Yosuke made his way over to the picnic blanket, an awe-struck Souji still in tow. “Nanako-chan! This is amazing. Did you do this?”

She pursed her lips, looked up to the sky, and shrugged deeply, continuing to then motion over to the picnic blanket. 

“I will be over there if you need anything.” She said, pointing to a picnic table on the other side of the overlook.

She started walking, only to stop at Souji, elbowing him in the side. 

As he bent over in pain she angrily whispered, “FLOWERS!” and then continued on her way. 

“Right,” Souji said, under his breath to no one in particular. 

With a breath and a smile, Souji walked over to Yosuke, holding out the flowers.

“Wha- o- oh.” Yosuke took the flowers, blushing furiously, but still smiling. “... thanks, partner.” 

Souji nodded, placing the picnic basket down. “Shall we?” 

Yosuke nodded, sitting down next to him. 

Inside were two bento boxes, both pink on the outside with hearts made of various food on the inside. 

They sat and chatted for most of the day, Nanako looking on from her perch, smiling, but never getting too close. 

 

~~~

 

“You mean to tell me I went through ALL OF THAT and you guys still haven’t confessed?!” 

Souji was back home, sitting on the couch. He shrugged towards Nanako, who was currently pacing around the room. 

“I- the outfit!? The flowers?? The picnic?! I HIRED A HORSE. TWO HORSES!”

Souji shrugged again. “Technically you rented the horses, not hired.” 

Nanako completely ignored him. “That dude’s dense as a frikin’ rock! Oh my God!” She threw her hands up in the air, falling onto the couch next to Souji and face planting into a pillow. “I give up. Your stubborn asses win.” 

“It’s ok, Nanako. We can go to Junes tomorrow!” Souji teased her, rubbing her back. 

“Sh-shut up.”

A few minutes passed before she looked up from the pillow. 

“... but can we?” 

Souji nodded. “I’ll buy you whatever you want.”

“... thanks, Big Bro.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is super un-beta'd and unedited, given that i finished it about 20 minutes before im posting it, but i really wanted to put it out on time, so im sorry for any mistakes! 
> 
> anyways what the heck did i just write? this fic is absolutely ridiculous and was a lot of fun to write and also no, i dont know what 'snooted' means, my brain just decided it was a good word to use and here we are.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading whatever this is. lmao


	5. Going Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Shadow

Yosuke knew Souji would go alone.

He always went alone to face the things that he feared. Yosuke learned this after standing outside the Junes electronics section one late night in December, hoping his gut feeling was wrong and he would get to close up shop and go home that night to sleep, ready to face the possibly the most evil person in all of Inaba with the whole team the next day.

Instead, he watched the TV screen ripple, his best friend appearing alone, a pang of guilt and hurt seeping through his heart.

 

He feared Adachi, so he went alone. It was somehow that simple.

 

Now Yosuke was back in a similar situation, standing at a TV inside of the Junes electronics section. Except this time, he wasn’t as disappointed. He was more scared.

Yosuke had seen it the other day. The way their leader couldn’t summon his persona in the last battle, the way he rushed everyone out of the TV world, despite saying he wanted to train until late in the day, and the look of pure terror that flashed across his face once he thought no one was looking.

Souji, their valiant, fearless, faultless leader, had a shadow. And he feared it.

Yosuke hoped to whatever force was out that he was wrong. That Souji was at home sleeping or that he was out with some other friend or at some other part-time job that Yosuke had missed.

Still, he rode his bike like hell up to Junes after attempting to call Souji only to get an “out of range” message, texting the rest of the team, and calling Nanako asking if any of them had seen Souji that night. None of them had. It didn’t help that Nanako said Souji was heading to Junes and she couldn’t come along and that he looked sad and, to quote Nanako, gave her “the biggest hug ever!”

He was tapping his foot now after standing there for 15 minutes. No Souji.

He called Nanako again. No Souji.

His eyes were now fixed on the TV in front of him, hands on his kunais tucked safely under his uniform jacket. Still, no Souji.

With a deep breath, he looked around to make sure no one was watching him, and jumped into the TV.

With a tuck and roll he landed on the stage of the backlot. This time, for the first time ever, he was all alone.

The place was much eerier without his friends, the fog clouding his vision until his put on the glasses, giving him a few more feet of visuals.

The backlot almost never changed, but Yosuke stopped dead in his tracks at a new set of stairs that had apparently appeared overnight. Curiously, he stepped on the first stair, the metal creaking under his weight as if it had been there for years.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his kunai harder and continued up the stairs.

At the top sat a catwalk, extending so far into the fog that he couldn’t see the end of it. He continued on into the fog.

He must’ve been walking for minutes before he heard it in the distance, stopping dead in his tracks.

“... but I’m you.”

“Stop it, you can’t just say things like that!”

“Oh but I can. I know the truth. I know who you are.”

Yosuke started running.

“And it looks like we have a visitor.” Yosuke was in sight of the shadow’s coy smile now, golden eyes looking right at him. Souji was facing away from Yosuke, but quickly turned at the shadow’s words, his eyes growing wide in something between concern and annoyance.

“Yosuke… leave.”

Instead, Yosuke flipped his kunai, walking closer. “I can’t. I won’t leave you here with that… that thing.” He glared towards the shadow.

“I’m serious Yosuke, this doesn’t concern you.”

Another pang of hurt crossed him. “What are you even talking about? You’re my closest friend, of course this concerns me and I’m going to help you!”

The shadow stirred in the background, taking a mocking voice. “Ooooh but Yosuke-kun, I don’t need your help. I’d rather die than admit to any weaknesses I have. You know, like a hero.”

“Shut. Up.” Souji was now turned back around, grey eyes blazing.

A devious smile crossed the shadows face as he ignored Souji. “And what about your friends, huh? You do whatever you need to keep them close to you. Can’t live in a world where they figure out what you’re hiding. You’re too afraid of them leaving to ever be true to yourself. A little hypocritical of you if you ask me.”

Souji turned back around again, facing Yosuke. “Leave,” he hissed. The anger on his face was almost enough to make Yosuke obey. For someone who didn’t emote often, Souji definitely knew how to evoke fear in the hearts of those around him when he decided to.

In fact, it occured to Yosuke that he had never seen Souji that angry before, not even when they took down Adachi.

However, he knew what he was there to do, so he gulped back his fear. “I’m not leaving your side. If you don’t accept this then I’ll fight it. I’ll never talk about this again if you don’t want me too, but _I won’t leave you_ , Souji.”

Souji’s expression broke at that, Yosuke could make out the tears under the anger, it was almost as if watching a mask break. “... promise?” His voice cracked, withdrawn from the authority he had mere seconds ago.

Yosuke took a battle stance, kunai at the ready, and smiled. “Promise.”

He expected fear from the shadow, but as Souji turned around and Yosuke looked towards it, he only saw amusement. “Ah man, that’s golden, really. You think the whole friend thing is the only thing this guy’s hiding? Classic.”

Souji tensed up again, Yosuke put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Remember, whatever it is, whatever that thing says, isn’t truly you. And no matter what, I’ll be here.”

He watched Souji relax a little bit and nod.

“It’s actually quite pathetic. Your friends, you know everything about them. Their deepest fears, darkest secrets, yet what do they know about you? Nothing. They know nothing.”

Souji flinched, the shadow continued to smile. “It pisses you off doesn’t it? You’ll do anything for them, seek them out in a crowd, hold them while they cry, you’d bend over backwards and go to the ends of the earth for these people and what do they give you in return? Oh, that’s right. They give you power. What about when all of this is over, though? Will your precious friends still mean as much to you?”

Souji started to lunge forward, grabbing his sword from it’s hilt-

“I’m here! I care!” Yosuke grabbed Souji’s wrist, stepping out in front of him. “I mean, of course I care about Souji, he’s my partner for crying out loud! And if I know anything about him, then he’ll never leave his friends behind, even when the investigation is over.” Yosuke turned around to face his friend. “And he should never feel like he has to hide anything from me.”

Souji put his sword back, closing his eyes and balling his hands into fists.

He stopped for a second, taking a deep breath. “He’s right. My friends care about me. I… I always feel like I have to be a leader, hide what I’m feeling. If I don’t then… I-I think they’ll leave me. I’m scared to be myself, I’ve never had friendships like the ones I’ve experienced here and I’m horrified to lose them.” Yosuke watched him bite his lip. “And yeah, my friends helped me gain power in the investigation. But, as far as we know, that’s over and my friends still mean as much to me as they did before we caught Adachi. I don’t see that changing.”   

Yosuke had no clue exactly what he was talking about, but he still nodded in support.

The shadow clapped slowly, the same shit-eating grin on its face. Just how much did Souji have to accept? “Yay, great, congrats, awesome. Let me just think here for a second, what else do we have… hum. Oh yeah,” it drummed it’s fingers boredly on the railing of the catwalk, pursing it’s lips as it faked thinking about what to say next before it’s eyes bored down on Yosuke, another smug grin crossing it’s face. “You.”

“H-huh?” Yosuke turned to face Souji, who now held a whole new expression. Fear. “W-what’re you…”

He trailed off as Yosuke mouthed “it’s okay”, but the fear didn’t leave his face.

“You know, it’s very fitting that you would be the one to come check here and all. Then again, if there’s one person he both fears and loves at the same time, it’s you.”

Yosuke’s eyes grew wide at that. “Lo-?”

The shadow didn’t even let him finish. “You read him like a book. He’s told you just as much as the others, if not less, yet you somehow completely know him. You can guess what he’s going to do, he was so careful, sneaking here and everything, yet you knew. You knew with Adachi too. But, even though he doesn’t learn - he still doesn’t trust any of you enough to invite along to help him face himself - here you are. Standing here. Helping him. Supporting him. Caring for him. He doesn’t know how to feel about that, do you?” Souji was now shaking his head, backing up, eyes still wide with fear.

Yosuke couldn’t say anything before the shadow was talking again, it’s smug smile growing wider as it spoke. “You just… you don’t know whether you want to hold him up to a wall and smack him or hold him up to a wall, kiss him silly, and fuck him senseless.”

“W-wha-?!” Now it was Yosuke tripping over his words, face heating up despite the situation.

“Yeah, all those times in class where you just want to look at him, dreaming of how his lips might taste, what it might feel like to-”

“YOU’RE NOT ME!” Souji let out a strangled cry. Yosuke whipped his head around to see tears rushing down his face, white knuckles gripping his sword as he charged forward.

Yosuke had just enough sense left to grab Souji by his shirt sleeve and hold him back.

“He-” Souji glared back at Yosuke for a second before the manicle laughter of the shadow made them both look back in fear.

It was growing to some sort of twisted version of Izanagi. Red lightning struck down as it grew, normal grey being replaced with deep red and pitch black.

It looked exactly like Magatsu Izanagi, Adachi’s persona.

Not long after, Yosuke watched in growing horror as Souji collapsed into him.

He quickly looked around for a safe spot while the shadow droned on with it’s speech as it grew. But, to Yosuke’s dismay, they were still suspended above the void, so he had no choice but to drag Souji as far back as he could and leave him.

He pulled out his kunai as he ran back, the shadow just getting to it’s full size.

“I am a representation of the true self’s desire. Prepare to perish.”

“Susano-o!” A bright light encased the small walkway as Susano-o appeared above Yosuke, right before the shadow took it’s first strike. A ziodine hit him, his efforts to dodge on the ricity walkway useless, and knocked him to the ground.

He quickly got to his feet and wasted no time with a garudyne while running forward, figuring if he was weak to lightning then Souji might just be…

The shadow fell down and Yosuke did a small fist pump before leaping forward and digging his kunai into the shadow.

It screamed, standing back up and Yosuke took the opportunity to place his headphones over his ears, battles tunes already ringing out.

The shadow attempted another hit, but this time Yosuke saw a clearing and ran through the shadow’s legs. The ziodyne missed him by a longshot.

Yosuke laughed, a grin similar to the shadow’s old one printed on his face.

 

The fight didn’t take long after that. Despite his fears, Yosuke managed to knock the shadow down repeatedly, staying quick on his feet and finding ways to avoid most of the attacks.

He bent over after the fight, resting his hands on his knees, attempting to catch his breath as the shadow transformed back into the golden-eyed version of Souji.

Still panting, Yosuke stood up, lowering his headphones and turning around just in time to see a shocked Souji sitting up.

Yosuke walked over to him, offering a hand. “You can do this.”

Souji nodded, accepting Yosuke’s hand and standing up.

Yosuke followed him over to the shadow, standing behind him as he came to face it.

“I… I…” Souji stuttered, then let out a breath, shaking his head. “I don’t know how you guys did this.”

“It’s ok, man. What did you tell me when I faced my shadow? I’m still me or something? Well, yeah. That.” Yosuke stopped to scratch the back of his neck, then sighed. “I-I’m bad at this. Look, ok. You are still you, no matter what’s deep down inside. The Souji I know has flaws, but the Souji I know is also an amazing person who would never let his friends down. He knows what he’s doing and he knows how good of a person he is. Yes, that thing is a part of you but he’s no more a part of you than any of that. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.”

Souji turned his head to face Yosuke, mouth slightly ajar, but quickly growing to a smile. “Thanks, Yosuke.”

Yosuke nodded and stepped back as Souji looked his shadow in the eye.

“You were right. I’m afraid of being judged and left behind by my friends, so I cater to their every will and only tell them what’s absolutely necessary. You’re me, and I’m you.”

The shadow smiled, seemingly satisfied, as it broke apart into light, turning back into the normal Izagani that Souji started out with.

As Izanagi phased back into Souji, he fell into a squatting position, hanging his head.

Yosuke stepped up to him. “You alright?”

“I think so… but wow, that’s tiring.”

Yosuke laughed. “Yeah man, now I guess you know what everyone else had to go through. Let’s get home, now.”

Yosuke helped Souji to his feet and they started walking slowly back to the backlot.

“You don’t want to talk about it?” Souji asked, a puzzled look on his face.

“About what?”

“What my shadow said.”

Yosuke thought for a second. Of course he wanted to talk about it, but if Souji didn’t want too then… “I guess... just... know you can open up to us more, dude. None of us are going anywhere even if you say something completely and utterly crazy.”

Souji bit his lip and looked at the floor. “... even if that thing is that I’m crazy in love with you?”

Yosuke stopped suddenly, leading Souji to start apologizing. “I-I I’m sorry I- it’s - that just... kind of-”

The heat in Yosuke’s cheeks subsided into laughter as he watched his beat-red friend attempted to formulate a full sentence.

Silencing his worry, Yosuke stepped forward, cupping Souji’s face and planting a quick kiss on his lips.

“... yes, even if that thing is that you’re crazy in love with me.”

Yosuke continued on, smug grin on his face, leaving Souji somehow even more flustered and frozen in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretend its yesterday just for a second really quickly oH HEY LOOK I TOTALLY GOT THIS UP ON TIME YEP
> 
> anyways, this prompt finally got my take on the souji shadow battle outta me so that's cool.  
> Hope you enjoyed it! <3


	6. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Growing Old Together

“Or- or, you guys remember that time when Chie freakin’ engulfed that mega beef bowl from Aiyas?” Yosuke laughed.

“Dude! I was so determined to do that in under 20 minutes and I did it! And you all can suck my toe because I was the only one here who managed that.” Chie crossed her arms and sat back. It was nice to see some things never changed.

The whole IT surrounded their old Junes table, or at least what they were pretty sure was their old Junes table. After 23 years, things got shifted around a lot. Souji and Yosuke were visiting from the city for the weekend for the first time in years, the whole group quickly agreed to meet up at Junes for the occasion. 

Souji shook his head. “Good times.” 

“And so the birthday guy speaks!” Yosuke was practically hanging off of his husband at this point, eyes sparkling like the day Souji proposed. Really, Yosuke’s eyes always sparkled. 

Still, Souji let out a comical sigh. “Don’t remind me. 40 already? It feels like just yesterday we were jumping into TVs and slaying shadows.”

“Yeah, really, partner. These days it’s an accomplishment if you can so much as put your pants on.” Yosuke smiled back, punching his partner in the shoulder.

“Ok now, I’m not that old.”

“Yeah! I bet senpai could go wack some shadows right now.” Rise sat back in her chair, sipping a soda. Her overly excited demeanor had calmed over the years, but her spirit was overall still in the same place, despite finally retiring from the idol business the past year and moving back to Inaba to take over her family’s tofu shop.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” Naoto leaned forward in her chair, eyes tired from the non-stop detective work she was getting ever since Dojima retired. It was scary how much she was starting to remind Souji of his uncle. 

“Ah c’mon babe, you’re no fun.” Kanji was standing, hand resting on the back of Naoto’s chair, calloused from years of working with sewing machines and hand-knitting. 

Naoto rolled her eyes. “I’d certainly not want to get re-involved in shadow business at this age.”

“For the last time, late 30’s and early 40’s is not that old! I could still kick Yosuke’s ass to the next universe, wanna see?” Chie was still practically bouncing in her seat.

“NO! Besides, you’re a cop, you’re expected to keep up with all of that!” Yosuke shot back. 

“Chie does work very hard to keep up her physique.” Yukiko nodded towards the group, mature demeanor merely built upon from high school. 

Chie blushed back. “Y-yeah.” 

“Man you two are adorable.” Both girls blushed at Souji’s comment.

“Helllooo!” The whole group turned to see a young blond-haired blue-eyed boy prancing towards the table. 

Yosuke groaned, probably out of habit more than anything at this point.

“Hey, Teddie. What’s up?” Souji smiled towards their old friend, who really still didn’t look older than 15. 

“Just bear-y happy to see everyone together again!” The bear kid acted happy, but Yosuke could see something else in his eyes. 

“C’mon Ted, I’ve known you for long enough, what’s wrong?” 

Teddie’s faced dropped into a pout. “I-it’s just, everyone is getting so old and I’m just…” Teddie looked down. It was kind of miraculous how much he still looked the same as the day he came out of the TV, hair and all. 

“Hey now, it’s not nice to call us all old!” Chie stood up, slamming her drink down on the table. “See! Check this out.” Chie crossed the food court to get a running start, sprinting down the length of the food court and doing two full cartwheels into a roundhouse kick.

She came back to the table panting, almost everyone’s jaws were dropped, save for Yukiko who was smiling and clapping as Chie took a bow and plopped back into her seat.

“See Ted, we’re not so old.” 

“Eh- er, well I don’t know if I could do something like that. But yeah, Ted, we’ll still be here for awhile.”

Teddie smiled, still somewhat sadly before taking a seat at the table. Despite his outward appearance, he had still matured a bit as a person, thankfully for Yosuke. 

The group sat and chatted for a little while longer before people started to clear out.

Eventually, Rise packed up her things and headed home, leaving just Yosuke and Souji in dimly lit roof of Junes. 

Yosuke looked at Souji, raising an eyebrow. “Samegawa?” 

“Sure.” 

 

It was closing in on 11pm when the reached the floodplain. Yosuke stretched, yawning as he flopped down onto the grass, looking up at the stars. 

“Man, I think I’m almost getting too old for this.” 

“Look who’s talking.” Souji sat down next to his husband. “I don’t I could ever outgrow this.” 

Yosuke closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Yeah. I miss this place man, I can’t believe it’s our first time visiting in over 5 years.” 

“The city’s been fun and all but… you’re right, I think I miss this place too much.” 

Yosuke eyed his partner. “So, that settles it then?”

“Yeah, that settles it.” 

 

The next day resulting in a lot of crying and group hugs as Souji and Yosuke announced their plans to move back to Inaba. 

“The whole group’s back, baby!” Teddie was wiping away tears, the whole group doing similar as they all laughed.

After so long, it was really nice going back home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this felt more like a quick write than anything, sorry it's so short but this week's got me b u r n t. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! <3


	7. Awkward Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Meeting In-Laws

Yosuke wasn’t exactly sure how they made it to New York, but there they were, standing on the streets of a completely foreign city, and he was already scared out his mind.

Yeah, sure, maybe the whole city thing was his forte, but at the very least he preferred to understand the language. At least he was with his fiance, someone who somehow knew the city in and out, and was definitely better at the english language than Yosuke would ever be.

“Here, this way.” Souji grabbed Yosuke’s hand, dragging him across the street, towards the subway station across from their hotel.

“Man, this place is more confusing than Tokyo,” Yosuke followed his fiance, walking fast and weaving their way around people before entering the subway, seeing a rat cross the stairs in front of them. “And a lot dirtier too, ulgh. I don’t get what your parents see in this place.”

“Well, you were raised in Tokyo so you’re used to it. This is completely different.” Souji swiped his metrocard, stopping on the other side and waiting for Yosuke to do the same.

“You’re telling me.” He watched all the foreign looking people pass him, most didn’t spare him a passing glance, but he did get considerably more smiles here than Tokyo. Maybe it was because he stood out.

“Let’s just get to your parents place.”

Souji nodded in understanding, stepping onto the subway car and honing in on two seats next to each other.

Yosuke sat uncomfortably, placing his headphones over his ears and waiting for Souji to drag him off at the correct spot.

 

Sure enough, a few streets later and Souji dragged Yosuke off the train car and up the stairs to a new part of the city, back to walking quickly through the streets. It was more similar to Tokyo than Yosuke had first thought, but it still sported a completely different feel. He didn’t know what to think.

 

Eventually, they made their way into a rather tall skyscraper, Souji saying something Yosuke didn’t understand to the receptionist and then suddenly they were on an elevator going to the top floor.

“Hey, relax a bit.” Yosuke had been bouncing his foot without realizing it. Four years into a relationship, most people would have already met their in-laws. Hell, Souji had dinner with Yosuke’s parents at least once every week and they loved him.

Still, it made sense how they haven’t even met yet, Souji’s parents always seemed to be in a different place. One second they were in Tokyo, then the next they were in Kyoto, then Osaka, throw in a London and a Hong Kong, a Los Angeles, Berlin, Sydney, Aberdeen - you name it, they’ve probably been there. The past few months have been a bit different though, they finally settled in New York and for the first time Yosuke remembered, they called their son and invited him to visit. Souji asked about Yosuke and, through a little bit of reluctance, they allowed him to come along too. Yosuke figured it had to happen at some point, anyways.

“Sorry.” Yosuke stopped tapping his foot as the elevator rose.

“Don’t worry about it too much, they’re not great people, but no matter what they say or how they act, it won't change anything.”

“Right.” Yosuke stood a little taller as the elevator came to stop.

Both boys stepped out into a hallway, Souji checking his phone before turning down a hallway, eventually stopping at a door and knocking.

A rather tall woman with light grey hair in a work suit answered the door, looking between the two boys. “Come in,” she opened the door wider, a polite smile on her face.

Souji bowed and walked in, ushering Yosuke in behind him.

“H-hi.” Yosuke squeaked out.

Souji’s mom gave him a judging look. “And I’m assuming you’re Hanamura-san. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Uh- uh, yes, Seta-san. It’s, uh, nice to meet you too.”  Yosuke gave Souji’s mom a little bit of a sweaty handshake.

Souji looked around, confused as both the boys slipped off their shoes. “Where’s dad?”

“Work, still. He should be home soon. Please, come in and sit.” She gestured towards a small living room, probably the cleanest thing Yosuke’s ever seen, with shiny floors and sleek, modern furniture.

He carefully sat down on the pristine couch, comfortability was definitely given up for looks in this case. The padding on the couch must’ve been just an inch thick before he was sitting on a hard piece of metal.

Perhaps the oddest thing was the color scheme, as opposed to the colorful bustling city outside, everything in the apartment was completely muted. Blacks and whites and mainly greys. A muted blue or purple occasionally, but the style was very clean and contemporary overall, as if a single blemish would bring down the whole apartment.

Definitely different than Yosuke’s room back home, walls practically made out of band posters and an an endless pit of dirty clothes for flooring.

Souji nudged him a little bit. “Seriously, relax. I’d rather you be yourself.”

Yosuke untensed a little bit at that, but still stayed sitting straight up.

Souji’s mom entered the room, three coffees in hand, and handed them out, placing them pristinely on coasters, then taking a seat on the other side of the coffee table.

“So, Hanamura-san, what do you do for work?” The question sounded oddly judgemental.

“I- uh, well,” he looked towards Souji for help, but he just nodded forward, offering nothing. “Music. I make music, do some producing. That kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, and he’s really good at it too. His stuffs been selling really well lately.”

Yosuke blushed a bit. “Eheh, I guess.”

“Well that’s nice to hear. I wouldn’t want my son being the only one making any money in the family.”

Well that was blunt.

Yosuke was saved from responding by the door beeping and an older man in a work uniform and a briefcase entering, presumably Souji’s dad.

“Pardon me for a moment.” Souji’s mom stood up, walking towards his dad.

Yosuke took a sip of his coffee and watched them speak to each other. There was no hugging, no kissing, no “welcome home honey!”. If Yosuke didn’t know any better, he’d say it was two strangers interacting. A completely different feel from his own home.

His mom turned back towards the living room. “Dinner will be served in about 15 minutes.”

“Thank you,” Souji took a sip of his coffee as his mom walked off towards the kitchen and his dad disappeared down a hallway without so much as a “hello”.

Yosuke was starting to realize just why Souji didn’t care much for his parents.

Once both of them were out of view, Yosuke finally relaxed, slumping over in his seat. “Man, this is exhausting. How did you do this for 17 years?”

“Practice,” Souji smirked, taking another sip of his coffee.

 

~~~

 

Dinner was just as awkward, if not worse.

Yosuke was looking down at the food in front of him, a plate of mashed potatoes, sweet peas, and some kind of meat, meatloaf maybe?

It sure as hell was nothing he was used to.

Still, wanting to make a good impression, he sat up straight, taking a piece of the meatloaf, and made a concentrated effort to chew with his mouth closed.  

Even then, dinner was oddly silent for the first five or so minutes, until Souji’s mom spoke up. “How was work today?”

She looked across to Souji’s dad. “Good, we finished that new business proposal. I believe the board liked what I had to offer.”

Silence. Again.

“So, mother, father, what brought you guys to New York?” Souji seemed to read the awkwardness from Yosuke, deciding to start a conversation.

“Well, Souji, it’s one of the business capitals of the world. Plenty of opportunities here to find work.” Souji’s dad responded, not looking up from his food.

“Correct, Souji, if you ever change your mind about that silly small town, we can get you a good word in the law industry here, you should really put that degree to a better work than some small town office,” Souji’s mom glanced over at him. “You have potential to do so much more.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Souji grumbled, picking at his food, somehow regretting starting a simple conversation.

 

Dinner ended just a quiet as it started. Souji and Yosuke both rushed out the door at the end.

“It was good to see you again, Souji, and it was… pleasant to meet you, Hanamura.” Souji’s dad shook both the boys hands before they stepped out the door, feeling more like an end to a bad business meeting than a family dinner.

Yosuke did his best to smile and wave as the door shut. “That was absolutely horrible.”

“Agreed. Let’s stick to your parents for now.”

“Yeah…” Yosuke sighed.

“Wanna go get some actual food?”

“Thought you’d never ask, partner.”

They both started down the hall, glad to be out of that situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its still june 1st in some places ok.
> 
> Anyways, this concludes Souyo week! Woot! Honestly pretty proud of myself for completing the whole thing, even if I was a lil late on some days.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them!


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